Anchor boom

ABSTRACT

An anchor boom for securing to the bow of a small boat which comprises a mounting bracket which projects over the bow of the boat and a guide arm hinged to the mounting bracket, the mounting bracket having a roller near the hinge point, and the swinging end of the guide arm having a pair of rollers which function to guide the anchor rope as the anchor is drawn upwardly. As the anchor reaches the boom, the shank passes between the rollers on the guide arm and over the roller on the bracket, and continued tension applied to the anchor rope results in the shank assuming a horizontal position, the guide arm being lifted by the shank about its hinge means, and the flukes of the anchor being held a short distance forwardly of the bow of the boat.

Melted States Patent 1 Dennis et all,

[ ANCHOR BOOM [75] Inventors: Roy James Dennis, Fulham;

Klemence Kielpikowski, West Beach, both of South Australia, Australia[73] Assignee: Roy James Dennis, Fulham, South Australia, Australia [22]Filed: Oct. 10, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 405,037

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 11, 1972 Australia 0786/72[52] U.S. Cl. 114/210 [51] Int. Cl B6311 21/22 [58] Field of Search114/210, 206 R; 294/84; 9/30, 34, 35

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,749,193 3/1930 Schauman eta1. 114/210 2,718,865 9/1955 Kurzmann 114/210 1 Feb. 111, 1975 2,899,9248/1959 Good 114/210 3,186,373 6/1965 Whitney 114/210 PrimaryExaminer-Trygve M. Blix Assistant Examiner-Charles E. FrankfortAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Jay L. Chaskin, Esq.

[57] ABSTRACT An anchor boom for securing to the bow of a small boatwhich comprises a mounting bracket which projects over the bow of theboat and a guide arm hinged to the mounting bracket, the mountingbracket having a roller near the hinge point, and the swinging end ofthe guide arm having a pair of rollers which function to guide theanchor rope as the anchor is drawn upwardly. As the anchor reaches theboom, the shank passes between the rollers on the guide arm and over theroller on the bracket, and continued tension applied to the anchor roperesults in the shank assuming a horizontal position, the guide arm beinglifted by the shank about its hinge means, and the flukes of the anchorbeing held a short distance forwardly of the bow of the boat.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBI 1 I 3.865.065 sum 20F 2 FIG 5ANCHOR BOOM This invention relates to an anchor boom which is useful forsecuring to the bow of a small boat and for the guiding of the anchorrope during the raising or lowering of the anchor, and positioning ofthe anchor shank after the anchor has been raised.

Various types of anchor booms have been proposed heretofore. For examplein the US. Pat. No. 3,509,847 issued to Persinger there is described ananchor boom which utilises an anchor shank tube having a roller at itsrear or upper end, and through which firstly the rope and then (uponraising ofthe anchor) the anchor shank passes. The tube is arranged totilt about a hinge mounting carried on the bow of a boat. With such anarrangement there is an imbalance, in that the main part of the weightof the anchor and shank overhangs the bow of the boat and it is retainedin position solely by the tension on the anchor rope. Furthermore thereis thought to be some danger of scuffing of the anchor rope as it movesupwardly through the tube.

In the US. Pat. No. 3,481,301 issued to E. F. Carroll there is describedan anchor cradle and lock wherein the rope, and subsequently the anchorshank, is drawn up over a curved base plate so that upon full raising ofthe anchor the shank becomes horizontal. Once again the rope rubs overthe curved base plate and the shank also moves over the curved baseplate, there being considerable friction which can damage the rope.Furthermore use is made of a lock device which needs to be tripped torelease the anchor.

In the US. Pat. No. 3,675,608 issued to Webb, there is described ananchor carrier and guide wherein one channel member slides within theother against a spring when the anchor is fully raised. The springassists in simplifying the lowering of the anchor.

In the specification accompanying US. Pat. No. 3,635,l 87 issued toWebb, there is described an alternative arrangement which also utilisesone Channel slideable and tiltable within the other, and a slidinganchor holding tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There is a need for a simple anchor boomwherein the anchor rope and the shank both pass over rollers so as toavoid danger of damage to the rope due to scuffing, and further so as toavoid the need for excessive forces being applied for example to ananchor rope so as to overcome the frictional interengagement, and at thesame time to provide a device which is free of slideable members, locksand other mechanisms which may become damaged, or difficult to operateunder the adverse conditions, for example corrosion, frequentlyencountered with small boats. It is also desirable that an anchor boomshould be operative to lay the anchor in a substantially horizontalposition with the flukes well in front of the boat so that damage to theboat through swinging of the flukes is substantially avoided. it isfurther desirable that the anchor should be easily released, and yetthat the tension on the anchor rope holding it in its position should berelatively small.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly the invention makes use of ananchor boom having a mounting bracket with a roller at its forward end,there also being a hinge at the forward end of the mounting bracket anda guide arm hinged to the mounting bracket so that the guide arm canmove from a horizontal position at least to a downwardly slopingposition. The front end of the guide arm is provided with at least oneroller to guide a rope and, upon raising of the anchor, the anchorshank. The arrangement is such that as the anchor is drawn upwardlythrough the guide arm, it reaches an overbalance point and continuedtension applied to the rope causes the shank to occupy a horizontalposition with the flukes being retained forwardly of the boat.Conveniently the position of the hinge can be such that the anchor has aslight force tending to cause it to tilt, this slight force being theonly force applied to the anchor rope to retain the anchor in its upperposition. With the anchor boom the control of the anchor can be effectedfrom within a boat without the need for the boatman to be at the bow ofthe boat.

More specifically, the invention consists of an anchor boom whichcomprises a mounting bracket having a pair of spaced side walls, atransverse wall joining the mounting bracket side walls, a rollersupport pin extending between the side walls near one end thereof, aninner guide roller supported by the support pin for rotational movement,a guide arm also having a pair of spaced side walls joined by atransverse wall, a further roller support pin extending between theguide arm side walls near one end thereof, an outer guide rollersupported by the further support pin for rotational movement, bridgemeans also extending between the guide arm side walls and spaced fromthe outer guide roller to define therebetween an anchor shank guidespace, and hinge means interconnecting the other end of the guide arm tosaid end of the mounting bracket which carries the roller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention isdescribed hereunder in some detail with reference to and as illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the anchor boom secured to the bow of a boat with theanchor raised almost to its fully raised position,

FIG. 2 illustrates the anchor in its fully raised positron,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the anchor boom but with the guide armextended,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the anchor boom but with the guide arm inits downwardly tilted position, and

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of FIG. 3.

In this embodiment an anchor boom 10 comprises two main portions whichare hinged together, one being a mounting bracket 11 arranged to besecured to the bow of a boat, and the other being a tiltable guide arm12 arranged to tilt from the sloping position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 tothe extended or horizontal position shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5.

The mounting bracket 11 is provided wth two side walls which are spacedand parallel to one another, and designated 15, the side walls beinginterconnected by a transverse wall 16. Similarly the guide arm 12 alsocomprises a pair of spaced parallel side walls 17 which areinterconnected by a further transverse wall 18. The corresponding sidewalls 15 and 17 are joined by a pair of coaxial hinge rivets 20 as shownmore particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the guide arm 12 is in itsdownwardly sloping position as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the ends ofthe side walls 15 and side walls 17 respectively designated 23 and 24abut one another as shown more particularly in FIG. 4 and thereby limitthe tilting of the guide arm 12. These ends may if desired be folded toform for example outwardly formed flanges to provide increased abutmentsurfaces.

Adjacent the hinge rivets at the outer end of the mounting bracket 11there is positioned a roller support pin 27 which supports a roller 28for rotational movement, the curved surface of the roller 28 having agroove extending around it.

Similarly the outer or swinging end of the guide arm 12 is provided witha further roller support pin 29 which rotationally supports a furtherroller 30 of similar configuration to the roller 28.

As shown in FIG. 2, as the anchor is drawn fully to its raised positionthe guide arm 12 occupies a horizontal position, and to effect thisbridge means is positioned above the roller 30, the bridge meansconstituting a further roller 31. The bridge means can however be a baror other means.

The anchor shank guide space between the rollers 30 and 31 is madesufficient to accommodate an anchor shank designated 34 to which ananchor rope 35 is attached, and in some cases it is desirable to ensurethat the anchor 34 cannot be dislodged under any adverse conditions. Insuch an instance use is made of a retaining pin designated 36 which, asshown in FIG. 2, will prevent the anchor from tilting.

The weight of the guide arm and the flukes of the anchor is such thatwhen the tension on the rope 35 is slightly relaxed the anchor tilts theguide arm downwardly and the anchor then freely lowers itself into thewater under the effects of gravity.

it will be seen immediately that the anchor boom of this invention is soarranged that the danger of damage to an anchor rope is substantiallyeliminated, considerable transverse forces can be applied, and there isno complicated mechanism in the device which is likely to result in highmaintenance or failure of the device.

What we claim is:

1. An anchor boom for the guiding of an anchor rope during raising andlowering of an anchor, and for positioning the anchor shank when theanchor is in its raised position, comprising a mounting bracket having apair of spaced side walls, a transverse wall joining the mountingbracket side walls and defining therewith an anchor shank guide space, aroller support pin extend ing between the side walls near the forwardend thereof and an inner guide roller journalled on the support pin forrotational movement,

a guide arm also having a pair of spaced side walls joined by atransverse wall, a further roller support pin extending between theguide arm side walls near the forward end thereof, an outer guide rollerjournalled on the further support pin for rotational movement, bridgemeans also extending between the guide arm side walls and spaced fromthe outer guide roller to define therebetween an anchor shank guidespace, and

hinge means interconnecting the rear end of the guide arm to saidforward end of the mounting bracket, so constructed and arranged thatsaid anchor shank guide spaces are aligned when the anchor is in itsraised position.

2. An anchor boom according to claim 1 wherein said bridge meanscomprises a further roller support pin extending between said guide armside walls having journalled thereon a retaining roller for rotationalmovement.

3. An anchor boom according to claim 1 wherein both said mountingbracket and said guide arm have a U-shaped cross-section for part oftheir respective lengths.

4. An anchor boom according to claim 1 wherein said hinge means comprisea pair of coaxial hinge rivets pivotally joining respective saidmounting bracket side walls to corresponding respective said guide armside walls.

5. An anchor boom according to claim 1 wherein the adjacent ends of saidmounting bracket and said guide arm are abutment edges which becomecontiguous wherein the guide arm hinges to slope downwardly from themounting bracket.

6. An anchor boom according to claim 1 further comprising a withdrawablepin extending through aligned apertures in the side walls of themounting bracket near the end other than said end having said rollersupport pin.

1. An anchor boom for the guiding of an anchor rope during raising andlowering of an anchor, and for positioning the anchor shank when theanchor is in its raised position, comprising a mounting bracket having apair of spaced side walls, a transverse wall joining the mountingbracket side walls and defining therewith an anchor shank guide space, aroller support pin extending between the side walls near the forward endthereof and an inner guide roller journalled on the support pin forrotational movement, a guide arm also having a pair of spaced side wallsjoined by a transverse wall, a further roller support pin extendingbetween the guide arm side walls near the forward end thereof, an outerguide roller journalled on the further support pin for rotationalmovement, bridge means also extending between the guide arm side wallsand spaced from the outer guide roller to define therebetween an anchorshank guide space, and hinge means interconnecting the rear end of theguide arm to said forward end of the mounting bracket, so constructedand arranged that said anchor shank guide spaces are aligned when theanchor is in its raised position.
 2. An anchor boom according to claim 1wherein said bridge means comprises a further roller support pinextending between said guide arm side walls having journalled thereon aretaining roller for rotational movement.
 3. An anchor boom according toclaim 1 wherein both said mounting bracket and said guide arm have aU-shaped cross-section for part of their respective lengths.
 4. Ananchor boom according to claim 1 wherein said hinge means comprise apair of coaxial hinge rivets pivotally joining respective said mountingbracket side walls to corresponding respective said guide arm sidewalls.
 5. An anchor boom according to claim 1 wherein the adjacent endsof said mounting bracket and said guide arm are abutment edges whichbecome contiguous wherein the guide arm hinges to slope downwardLy fromthe mounting bracket.
 6. An anchor boom according to claim 1 furthercomprising a withdrawable pin extending through aligned apertures in theside walls of the mounting bracket near the end other than said endhaving said roller support pin.